Renting out a house/becoming a landlord - help - Page 2

neilda · 04 August 2010, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

neilda, thanks for the info. Sounds like an agent will have all sorts of ridiculous charges I hadn't thought of. Would be good if you could email me those documents, email on my website (see below).

Done.

slimtim · 04 August 2010, 19:06

Thanks neil!

free · 04 August 2010, 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

£1200 worth?

Lol, never actually got to meet the aformentioned professional, I guess they realised their number was up as they'd scarpered before I got there. The bloke in the shop next door was sad to see them go, he was doing a roaring trade in packs of three

Never actually lost out of that escapade as the original tenants brother was still paying the rent, I never did work out if he knew what was going on. You should have seen the state they left it in though.

free

slimtim · 06 August 2010, 10:39

Ok so met an estate agent last night who ran through everything with me. After reading all your comments and others too I had pretty much convinced myself that we should do it ourselves and not bother with an agent.

The deal the agent came up with however seems almost reasonable. For full management they charge a flat 10% +VAT. This includes finding the tenants, doing extensive credit and reference checks using homelet.co.uk, 6 months free rental guarantee, sorting out repairs, taking rent, persuing for non payment, managing the bills, 12 week inspections etc. They don't charge to renew contracts or to find new tenants but they do charge the tenants £150+VAT each and I would be stuck with that agent for as long as the tenant is in the house.

What do people think about this? 10% is a fair amount but they deal with a lot of things that would otherwise be a headache.

I am meeting another agent this afternoon.

neilda · 06 August 2010, 11:20

What would they charge just to find you a tenant?

What is their renewal rate?

As mentioned earlier, they will always use the most expensive route to fix a problem, I would avoid having it fully managed personally.... however, you might be a busy chap and not want to be the 'landlord' type that has to deal with the day to day stuff.

slimtim · 06 August 2010, 11:26

To find tenants only which would include the checks and doing the contract is £350+VAT. This is included if you go for full management at 10%. There is no renewal fee with full management, you just pay the 10% whenever rent is paid.

neilda · 06 August 2010, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

To find tenants only which would include the checks and doing the contract is £350+VAT. This is included if you go for full management at 10%. There is no renewal fee with full management, you just pay the 10% whenever rent is paid.

I would be tempted to pay the £350 + VAT to find the tenants. Do they then charge you the same at renewal?

Poly · 06 August 2010, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

I would be stuck with that agent for as long as the tenant is in the house.

Not sure if I'm reading that right. But the agent finds Mr and Mrs Excellent, they are dream tennents always pay on time, never complain, he's a plumber so actually just fixes the dripping tap rather than complaining to your etc etc. They are happy and stay for a very long time. Meanwhile the agent is creaming off 10% - which is fine because that is what you agreed. But if after 2 years you decide that the agent is useless, or overpriced, or actually unnecessary because Mr&Mrs E are so good then you can't terminate?

slimtim · 06 August 2010, 11:55

Polwart, that is correct. Unless the agent is negligent in their obligations or unless there is a change in tenant. What would stop me not renewing the tenants contract, ditching the agent and then renewing the tenant's contract without the agent?

Neil, not sure about renewal. Could I not just renew with the tenant myself? The agent is redundant after the initial search and checks surely?

Poly · 06 August 2010, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

Polwart, that is correct. Unless the agent is negligent in their obligations or unless there is a change in tenant. What would stop me not renewing the tenants contract, ditching the agent and then renewing the tenant's contract without the agent?

that is fine for a period (say 12 months) but not ad-infinitum. If the agent is offering value for money and a good service then you won't want to change. If they are crap (but not necessarily negligent - just as crap as all the others) then you are stuck with them.

mark_j · 06 August 2010, 14:01

We have a couple of houses that we rent out in WSM, we use an agent to find the tenants, for this they charge 199 plus vat, i think it is good value and we can stipulate the criteria, previously we put and add in the paper to save cash and had to do a total refurb when we eventually "persuaded" him to move out.

neilda · 06 August 2010, 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

Neil, not sure about renewal. Could I not just renew with the tenant myself? The agent is redundant after the initial search and checks surely?

If the agent has found you the tenant, then they will make a charge to renew that tenant - despite the fact that they have done nothing. In my case, I did not check the wording or consider this point closely enough and, at renewal, I'm paying over £5k in commission for Hamptons to do absolutely nothing except sit back. My fault for not dealing with this at the outset. Levels of commission should, by rights, reflect the amount of work done - this is not the case in tenancy renewals.

It is worth remembering that the tenant is 'their' tenant and so they will make a charge. You just need to make sure you've got this base covered at the beginning.